Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 14, Number 3, 1 March 1999 — So really, why did I get dumped? [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

So really, why did I get dumped?

ON JAN. 21, Trustees Akana, Hao, Hee, Keale and Trask dumped me from OHA's Committee on Negotiations. They claimed "my negotiation team had no strategy," that I made "inappropriate comments" to the state negotiators and "threatened to walk out" on them. None of that is true but, after Akana waived OHA rules, declared me out of order and recessed the meeting for more than two hours, she and her cronies dumped me. Here are the facts. After my Oct. 14, 1997, election as BOT chair, I began working on negotiations with the state, whieh had refused to pay its debt to Hawaiians, placed a $15. 1 million eap on ceded land revenues, sponsored legislation to permanently reduce Hawaiian rights and entitlements and appealed Judge Heely's decision in favor of Hawaiians to the Hawai'i Supreme Court. I knew we needed a solid platform to work from in order to succeed: enough money for legal services, educational efforts and a media campaign; the governor's agreement to negotiate; and support

fix)m individuals who knew the issues and process. It wasn't until mid'98, however, that the pieces eame together. On July 15, Govemor Cayetano and 1 announced the decision to negotiate. From the outset my purpose was elean 1) know everything possible about the state's obhgation to Hawaiians, ceded land history and distribution of revenue there ffom; 2) know the law Judge

Heely had apphed; 3) assemble a winning team; and 4) keep the board informed. I asked experienced people to serve: Nonma Wong, a Kamehameha graduate who represented Govemor Waihe'e during negotiations leading to Acts 304 and 357; Clayton Hee, who negotiated OHA's $136.5 million settlement; Gary Nishikawa, who audited state records to determine how mueh was owed Hawaiians; and Jim Duffy, Esq„ who won the Heely decision for Hawaiians. Everyone accepted except Hee, who found fault with everything I did. Unfortunately, the state delayed appointing its negotiation team of good people with little knowledge of the issue.

The team refused to meet until Sept. 4 and kept its records sealed until Sept. 22. The govemor's race took priority so we met only five times before Nov. 3. Despite this disappointment, we stayed on track, set the direction of eaeh meeting and kept the board informed. four comprehensive briefings provided detailed information about the negotiations including

our motion for stay of appellate proceedings, parameters for the negotiations and the elements of our proposed package. We explained why the negotiations would be kept confidential and press inquiries handled jointly. Twelve weeks before the Dec. 1 deadline set by the Supreme Court, we announced our willingness to meet daily. We explained the need to work with real numbers and our difficulty in accessing state records. We clarified our purpose was to settle differences in the Heely lawsuit and address amounts due Hawaiians, not negotiate a global settlement. We described our approach; we prepared a history and presented; we reported the state's posi-

tion; and we shared the rbsults of our audit before it was presented to the state. The board approved our pursuit of "cash," "land" and "other consideration" to produce a fair and creative settlement. On Nov. 24, Akana replaced me as chair. One of her first actions was to dismantle the negotiation effort I put together. She instructed ADM Ogata to terminate COS Scotty Bowman and attorney Jim Duffy to dump Norma Wong. Then Akana named Hee, Trask and herself to the Committee on Negotiations and Entitlements, dumping Apoliona. (Campos was already out because he was not elected.) Akana appointed me "alternate," but refused to tell me when or where meetings were held and instructed OHA staff not to divulge this information. As you ean see, we "planned the work and worked the plan" as we marched unerringly to fruitful meetings, identification of the debt owed and agreement on components of the settlement: "cash," "land" and "other considerations." So why did I get dumped? My ouster had nothing to do with what I did or do and everything to do with Akana's "get even" attitude, Hee's autocratic style and Trask's willingness to do anything to achieve personal goals. This truly is a sad time for OHA and its beneficiaries. ■

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TRUSTEE MESSAGES

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